Washington D.C. to Las Vegas

I awoke just before the trusty alarm clock made any noise so I didn’t disturb anyone. I had set the alarm for 4:45 and as it was 4:30 I thought it best to get up than try and steal the extra fifteen minutes. I showered and dressed and packed the last few remaining bits (being an ex-Boy Scout I was already prepared) and headed for the door. On the way to it Steve stirred and sat up, “Have a good and safe trip mate” he said sticking out his hand “it was a pleasure meeting you.” We shook hands and I told him likewise, he’s a good bloke, and I wished him all the best for his settlement in America and hoped he didn’t have to hack through too much more red tape. I left quietly and silently wished Eric all the best with his studies and a safe journey back to Mexico City.

I was checked out and on the street by 5:10 heading for Metro Center in order to catch the orange line train for L’Enfant Plaza where I would pick up the bus to Dulles airport.
The train journey was no problem and neither was the bus journey – eventually!

I exited the station and found the bus stop for the 5A Express to Dulles Airport and I was in time for the 6:10 bus – which was what I planned. I waited. 6:20 came and I was getting rather perturbed. Two other buses indicated on the board had come and gone – twice each – and a small degree of trepidation was beginning to form. No matter I can get a cab if all else fails, although I didn’t want to spend $30 when I could spend $3! Another guy with a case joined me at the bus stop. A driver got off of one of the many commuter shuttle buses, which queued up at the stop and took away lots of people getting off the trains, and asked us if we wanted the Dulles Express. We did, and it transpired we were waiting in the wrong place as the busses ran from just down the road past the next set of lights – about 300 metres. We thanked him very much and set of down the road to the indicated stop. When we got there we started chatting about sharing a cab if we had missed the next bus – which was 6:50 – and both agreed it as a backup plan. The bus arrived; we got on, paid our $3 each and sat down. On the way, it is about a 45 minute journey, we chatted about all sorts of current affairs mainly centred on the economic rise of China and its consumption of resources to the point of causing world shortages elsewhere.

We got to the airport, in enough time, and headed for our respective check-ins and wishing each other pleasant and uneventful journeys.

In order to get to Vegas I have two flights; 1) DC to Dallas, Fort Worth and then 2) Dallas to Las Vegas, McCarran with a sixty-five minute wait between flights. Our flight was delayed by half an hour – not a lot we could do as we were all sitting on the plane – and I was hoping that the flight time on my connecting ticket was local or I’d be stuffed.

The flight was uneventful and most people, the ones with connecting flights, hurried off the plane, me amongst them. Fortunately the departure time was local and I only had a twenty minute wait before boarding. I double checked with the check-in staff that my luggage had been transferred – my ticket said it was checked thru (more child spelling) but I wasn’t taking any chances – they assured me it was.

The departure gate I had to use at Fort Worth was rather novel. One enters a large room with seats around the edge and poles and rails to hold on to – like a wide train carriage – and then a guy comes along climbs into a cab and drives the thing across the airport apron to the departure lounge proper. These things are big Portakabin type things on wheels, it was quite fascinating to watch others driving back full of people who had just disembarked.

I was able to relax a bit when I got seated and the plane began its taxi-off.

I couldn’t see much of Vegas as we approached because it was covered in cloud and it was raining. Welcome to the desert! Apparently they had been experiencing a freak downpour for the last two days as the result of a storm off the coast of California. It is meant to be better tomorrow though. I knew I was definitely in Vegas as there were slot machines in the arrivals lounge!

I located the bus shuttle stand and got the shuttle to Villa Roma Motel. The place was quite alright, clean, tidy and about to undergo a major renovation. I dumped my bags and headed out for something to eat.

As it was still raining and the cloud was hanging low over Vegas the whole sky was alight with reflected light, I have to admit it looked quite spectacular.

I hit the strip in search of food. Bloody hell, who pays the electricity bill here? This place is lit up like a forest of Christmas trees!

I found a diner slightly out of the way of the main drag and ate in comfort as I was only one of ten people in the place.

Now full and feeling the time I had been up – another time zone change had thrown its spanner into the works – I returned to my hotel and crawled into a big comfortable bed. Aahhh, bliss. I will go exploring properly tomorrow.